Casimir Lefaucheux

Casimir Lefaucheux
Born (1802-01-26)January 26, 1802
Bonnétable France
Died August 9, 1852(1852-08-09) (aged 50)
Paris France
Nationality French
Occupation gunsmith

Casimir Lefaucheux (26 January 1802 – 9 August 1852) was a French gunsmith. He was born in Bonnétable and died in Paris.

Casimir Lefaucheux obtained his first patent in 1827. In 1832, he completed a drop-barrel sporting gun with paper-cased cartridges.[1]

Casimir Lefaucheux is credited with the invention of one of the first efficient self-contained cartridge system in 1836, featuring a pin-fire mechanism. This followed the pioneering work of Jean Samuel Pauly in 1808-1812. The Lefaucheux cartridge had a conical bullet, a cardboard powder tube, and a copper base that incorporated a primer pellet.[2] Lefaucheux thus proposed one of the first practical breech-loading weapons.[3]

In 1846, the Lefaucheux system was improved upon by Benjamin Houllier, who introduced an entirely metallic cartridge of copper brass.[4]

In 1858, the Lefaucheux pistolet-revolver became the first metallic-cartridge revolver to be adopted by a national government.[5]

It is thought likely that the revolver with which Vincent van Gogh fatally shot himself in a field in 1890 was a 7mm Lefaucheux à broche; the pistol was found, extremely corroded, in about 1960 and is on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.[6][7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Rifles of the World By John Walter, p.258
  2. ↑ Pistols by Jeff Kinard p.109
  3. ↑ Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact - Page 15 by James H. Willbanks
  4. ↑ Pistols by Jeff Kinard p.109
  5. ↑ Pistols by Jeff Kinard p.109
  6. ↑ "The whole truth about Van Gogh's ear, and why his 'mad genius' is a myth". The Guardian. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Van Goghs ziekte, oor en zelfmoord voor het eerst uitvoerig belicht" [Van Gogh's illness, ear and suicide extensively discussed for the first time]. Van Gogh Museum (in Dutch). 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.

References

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